Management Response

: Programme Division
: 2012 - 2013 , Programme Division (HQ)
: Strengthening Responses to create wealth and reduce poverty for Women in Cross Border Trade in Africa
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Programme Division

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The Africa Section which managed this evaluation has considered the evaluation report and recommendations and found them to be useful and relevant to the UNWOMEN programmes. This evaluation was also completed against a backdrop of an on-going implementation of the regional architecture. It is however noted that due to the changes that have taken place in UNWOMEN since the evaluation was completed, most of the recommendations will have to be addressed by the Regional Offices in support of country office implementation of the recommendations. Overall Quality of the Evaluation: The quality of the evaluation could have been much better/falls short of expectations. Most of the recommendations do not go in depth on issues pertaining to the programme and did not reflect the new context in which the programme will continue to be implemented. The evaluation report presented is a missed opportunity to bring out practical suggestions on how to improve the implementation of a programme with an increasing up take by UNW country offices in Africa. As a result, the management response to the recommendation is directed at offices (regional or country) that should take the recommendations forward.

: Approved
Recommendation: Build models that facilitate sustainability at country level ? Document and share best practices on successful business models that facilitate graduation of women traders from the informal sector to formal business entities. ? Facilitate linkages of WICBT associations to broader women?s movement to address concerns raised by women beyond the mandate of the programme including domestic violence, restrictions on access to resources, and in matters of marriage, divorce, and property rights. ? Increase UN Agency involvement in the programme to leverage financial, human and institutional support already existing at country level.
Management Response: UNWOMEN agrees on the need to document and disseminate knowledge on models that work well and also on the importance of linking successes of the WICBT programme to broader women?s needs and priorities in Africa
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Hold a teleconference with the Regional offices and implementing countries to discuss the handover and takeover of the programme Programme Division 2013/10 Overdue-Not Initiated
Support establishment of a partners' group on women/gender and regional trade including WICBT Regional Offices (Nairobi) 2013/12 Overdue-Not Initiated
Plan a meeting with the relevant departments at ECOWAS to share the programme progress and to garner support for the programme in West Africa West Africa Regional Office and Nigeria Office 2013/10 Overdue-Not Initiated
Recommendation: Improve programme linkages in West Africa ? Facilitate regional programmes with linkages established between countries that share borders with Liberia and Mali to be effective in addressing challenges along the trade corridor based on the Great Lakes 3- country model between Rwanda, DRC and Burundi. ? Elevate management of relationships with RECs to West Africa Regional Office to foster a unified West Africa strategy that can facilitate regional integration in trade. ? Provide performance related support in the region with growth of top performers and exit of programmes not producing results, such as Nigeria.
Management Response: UNWOMEN agrees with the need for cross country linkages of the programme. Being a cross border programme it is necessary that the implementing countries on ? one programme? rather than individual country programmes. The Nigeria country office had a peculiar challenge in the implementation of the programme. Instead of recommending exiting the programme implementation in Nigeria where there is a great potential for the programme to pick up and be meaningfully implemented, UNW will ensure a stronger Regional Office support to the Nigeria country office.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Hold a programme review meeting of UN Women staff in country offices implementing the programme with all implementing countries to discuss modalities and facilitate the cross regional linkages and learning from the great lakes/peggy back on one of the Africa region meetings/Regional Office retreats etc Programme Division 2013/12 Overdue-Not Initiated
The Regional Office in West Africa, now Dakar RO to discuss the challenges of implementation and fast track implementation of the programme in Nigeria through a teleconference West Africa Regional Office 2013/10 Overdue-Not Initiated
Recommendation: Demonstrate accountability to WICBT in Liberia (UN Women Liberia Country Office) ? UN Women to work with Ministry of Trade and Commerce in Liberia in the development of strategies for rehabilitation of custom operations with provisions for complaint mechanisms by women traders, training of customs officers, and improvement of facilities and systems for customs administration and facilities. ? Leverage existing expertise with current partners DENL and EDUCARE in Liberia to support development of training curriculum for custom officers inclusive of key regional protocols and implementation strategies and human rights of women traders to curb exploitation by custom officers.
Management Response: UNWOMEN agrees with this recommendation and notes that the issue raised in the recommendation is one of the reasons why this programme was developed. Also, Liberia has made considerable progress in implementing the WICBT programme and the above recommendation will further solidify gains for women in informal cross border trade in Liberia
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Review the implementation of the programme in Liberia to ascertain if any of the issues raised in the recommendation have been implemented Liberia CO 2014/03 Overdue-Not Initiated
Hold a meeting with the customs officials in Liberia to discuss the challenges faced by women in cross border trade and to come up with implementable actions that address the challenges raised. Liberia CO 2014/03 Overdue-Not Initiated
Recommendation: Evaluation Recommendation or Issue 4: Regional focus on border management and advocacy SARO ? Develop transnational training programmes targeting customs officials at border areas across the region to eliminate harassment of women traders. ? Advocate for policy reform on the certificate of origin to reduce continued harassment of women in the region.
Management Response: UNWOMEN agrees on the need for the training programmes; and again the programme was developed in order to address issues such as this. UNWOMEN also agrees on the need for on-going advocacy with the regional institutions to ensure that trade protocols ease the trade processes for women in cross border trade;
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Support the review of SADC trade policies and identify gaps for Women in trade including WICBT, and engage in advocacy to ensure that the trade policies are engendered Nairobi RO/South Africa MCO 2014/06 Overdue-Not Initiated
Support training of customs officials on gender issues in the Southern Africa South Africa MCO 2014/06 Overdue-Not Initiated
Recommendation: Evaluation Recommendation or Issue 5: Improve programme linkages CARO ? Introduce performance related fundraising strategies to top performing countries and reduce investment in countries where development risks pose a challenge to programme implementation, i.e., DRC. ? Provide linkages between Cameroon and the Great Lakes programmes to leverage knowledge at CARO office.
Management Response: UNWOMEN agrees with the recommendation, noting that resource mobilisation is currently a priority of every country office. Countries are mobilising resources based on the approved annual work plans which are all results based. In regard to Cameroon, following the implementation of the regional architecture, Cameroon will now be covered under the West Africa regional Office hence the linkages will need to be established with the West African countries such as Nigeria. However, UNWOMEN notes that there are lessons to be learnt from the programme in the Great Lakes region.
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
At the proposed programme review meeting, discuss practical steps of cross learning among countries especially countries within the same region Dakar RO/Program Team 2013/12 Overdue-Not Initiated
Printing of knowledge products to show case country results as evidence for resources mobilization and for the development of the communication strategy Program Team 2013/12 Overdue-Not Initiated
Recommendation: Build models that facilitate sustainability at country level ? Document and share best practices on successful business models that facilitate graduation of women traders from the informal sector to formal business entities. ? Facilitate linkages of WICBT associations to broader women?s movement to address concerns raised by women beyond the mandate of the programme including domestic violence, restrictions on access to resources, and in matters of marriage, divorce, and property rights. ? Increase UN Agency involvement in the programme to leverage financial, human and institutional support already existing at country level.
Management Response: UNWOMEN agrees on the need to document and disseminate knowledge on models that work well and also on the importance of linking successes of the WICBT programme to broader women?s needs and priorities in Africa
More detail
Description:
Management Response Category: Not applicable
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Not applicable
Organizational Priorities: Not applicable
UNEG Criteria: Not applicable
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
Document the emerging successes of the programme and share across the continent Programme Division 2014/03 Overdue-Not Initiated
Support discussions with trade based UN agencies: UNCTAD, ILO, WTO etc. and engage in advocacy work at AU level including UNW's partnership with UNECA ESARO, and Ethiopia Country Office 2014/03 Overdue-Not Initiated